Apparatus for sorting lumber, strips of material, or other articles according to size.



A. T. HALLOCK.- v APPARATUS FCR'SORTING LUMBER, STRIPS'OF MATERIAL, OR OTHER ARTICLES ACCORDING TO SIZE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 8. I916.

1,245,584. Patented Nov. 6, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

A. T. HALLOCK.

AL, 0R OTHER ARTIGLES ACCORDING TO SlZE.

Patented Nov. 6, 1917.

APPARATUS FOR SORTING LUMBER, STRIPS 0F MATERI APP LICATION FILED MAY 8.1916.

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ARTHUR T. HALLOCK, OF TWO RIVERS, WI-SCON SIN.

APPARATUS FOR SORTING LUMBER, STRIPS OF. MATERIAL,

'4 ACCORDING TO SIZE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

OR OTHER ARTICLES Patented Nov. 6, 1917 7 Application filed May 8, 1916. Serial No. 96,019.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR T. HALLOCK, a citizen of the United States of America, and resident of Two Rivers, Manitowoc county, lVisconsin, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Apparatus for Sorting Lumber, Strips of Material, or other Articles According to Size, of which the following is a specification.

In the manufacture of lumber for boxes, it has been customaryto cut up the logs in such manner that the boards are of different widths. of the boards by hand, so that the boards of diiferent sizes could be used in the desired manner. Such method, of course, has involved considerable additional expense.

The object of my invention is, therefore, to provide an improved apparatus for sorting and classifying the boards so that all of the boards of one width will be in one place, and all of those of a different width will be in another place, thus making it easy to handle and usethe boards in the desired manner, and obviating the necessity of sorting the boards by hand.

It is also an object to provide certain details and features of construction and combinations tending to increase the general efliciency and desirability of a sorting and classifying apparatus of this particular character and adapted more particularly for use in sorting the comparatively small and light boards from which boxes are made. I

To these and other useful ends, my invention consists in matters hereinafter set forth and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings Figure l is a side elevation of an tus for sorting lumber or small boards, em bo'dying the principles of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan of the runway of said apparatus. V

Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan of the upper end-portion of said apparatus, showing a portion of the apertured runway.

Fig. 4. is an enlarged section on line 4l in Fig. 1. V

Fig. 5 is an enlarged section on line 55 in Fig. 3.

As thus illustrated, my invention comprises a frame or body A, of any suitable character, upon which is supported the-inclined runway B, the latter being inclined not only laterally, so that one side is lower This has necessitated a sorting appara than the other, but also in such manner that one end is lower than the other, so that the boards or strips or pieces of lumber can slide down said runway by gravity, more or less, depending upon the angle of inclination. This runway has its bottom provided with a slot 6 formed by a series of rectangular openings 1, 2, 8, 4, 5 and 6, which openin'gs are merged together to form the slot. Immediately above the upper end of said slot, a hopper C is mounted in position to hold a stack of boards, such as those used in making boxes. This hopper has a front wall 0 (see. Fig. 5.) which is supported by springs 7 whereby it can yield to prevent breakage when the feed-belt D attempts to feed more than one board at a time from the bottom of the stack. The lower edge of this front wall 0' is disposed at the proper height to allow only one board at a time to escape from the bottom of the stack, but some times two boards will stick together, or the boards will be thin enough so that the lugs (Z on said feed-belt will engage more than one board. In such case, thefrcnt wall 0 will yield sufiiciently to allow the two boards to pass out from under the lower edge of said wall, thus preventing breakage. At its lower side, the said run way is provided with a guide E for the lower edges of the boards as they travel along the runway, being caused by gravity to bear hard against this guide. The said openings 1, 2, 3, '4, 5 and 6 are, it will be seen, of different sizes, the smallest being first and the largest last, so that said slot 6 is larger at its lower end than at its upper end. These openings have their edges at one side of the slot in alinement, so that the slot is straight atone side, but the other edge of the slot has a stepped formation -because of the different widths of the several openings. This stepped side of the slot is formed by a separate strip F which forms a part of the said runway, but which'is" adjustably connected with the other side of the runway by crossbars 7 under which the boards o-rother articles slide down the runway. These cross-bars f'have slots 8 through which the fastening-bolts 9 are in-j serted and which carry the longitudinal strip F, whereby the latter can be moved toward and away from the other side of the runway, thus changing the width of the slot Z) and thereby making it possible to handle boards having a larger number of widths than those represented by the openings 1 to 6, inclusive, in a manner that will be readily understood. A belt G is mounted at the lower side of the runway, and travels against the guide E to propel the boards forward by frictional contact therewith. This belt G is operated at a greater speed than the belt D, whereby each board has its forward movement accelerated as it leaves the bottom of the hopper. Consequently, each board jumps ahead at distance after leaving the bottom of the hopper, and in this way the boards are separated as they travel down the runway. Each board will drop through the opening of corresponding width, and as the boards are not in contact with each other at their ends, which latter are some times rough, for any board to be held up and carried beyond its allotted opening by the other boards. Each board slides along the narrow ledge e at the base of the guide E (see the board X in Fig. eh), and as soon as the board reaches the proper opening its higher edge will drop down and the board will fall into one of the bins or compartments 3. (see Fig. 1.) whereby the boards of difierent sizes are classified according to their width.

In order to avoid the necessity of getting in under the runway, in order to clean out the bins or compartments Y, inclines H are arranged in the said bins or compartments (see Fig. 4.) so that the boards falling thereon will be conveyed to points at one side of the apparatus. The boards which fall on these inclines H will be discharged at the side of the apparatus, and in this way it will not be necessary to enter below the runway to obtain the boards. Any suitable means may, however, be employed for receiving the boards from their respective outlets in the runway.

As shown and described, the runway 13 is tilted downward at one end, but it may be used horizontally if such is necessary or desirable, inasmuch as the belt D may be employed for propelling the boards along the runway, so that the use of gravity will not be necessary for this purpose. As shown and described, the runway is tilted to one side in order that gravity may force the lower edges of the boards against the belt G, and thus keep the boards in alinement at one edge of the runway; but it is obvious that other expedient-s may be employed for this purpose, so that the boards may be maintained in alinement along one edge of the slot 6, and that for this'reason the runway is not necessarily tilted to one side, inasmuch as certain features of my invention are capable of use without tilting the runway to one side.

It will be readily understood that any suitable power-transmltting-connections can it will not be possible be employed for operating the belt G and the belt D for feeding the boards from the bottom of the hopper. The hopper-feedinginechanism can also be of any suitable form or character, but the yielding front wall 0 is afeature of improvement, and is advan tageous for the reasons previously explained.

Thus, tion I provide an apparatus for classifying the lumber, strips of material, or other articles, according to size. The hopper-feedmechanism is effective in use, as the action of the yielding front wall 0 will prevent breakage, and also will prevent the stopping of the machinery, in cases where, for any reason whatsoever, the pressure of a lug cl against the lowermost board in the hopper results in pressure against the lower edge of said end wall 0, which may occur in different ways. this kind, especially the thin boards which are made for use in the manufacture of boxes, is not of uniform thickness, and an unusually thick board might be too thick to pass under the lower edge of the front wall 0, if the latter were rigidly supported, but by mounting this end wall upon the springs 7, or in any other way which will enable it to yield, a thick board will finally pass out from the bottom of the hopper without breaking the feed-mechanism or stopping the machinery. Again, boards of this kind are very often badly warped, and a warped board might refuse to leave the bottom of the hopper if the end wall 0 were rigidly mounted, whereas it will finally escape from under the lower edge of this end wall when the latter is yieldingly mounted. Also, as previously explained, two or three boards may stick together at the bottom of the hopper, and in such case the yielding support for the end wall 0 will prevent injury to the apparatus, or will tend to do this, so that breakage will be less liable. Furthermore, with the construction shown, the boards of different widths are not only reliably fed onto the rimway, but are also automatically discharged from the runway according to their different sizes, so that the boards of one width will all be in one bin. while the boards of another widthv will all be in a difierent bin, and so on, throughout the series of bins which are disposed below their respective openings in the runway.

In making boards for boxes, the method of sawing the logs is generally such that the boards are necessarily of different widths. These boards can be sorted and classified by hand, but that would be slow and comparatively expensive, and with my invention the sorting is done rapidly and accurately. The boards for this purpose are usually comparatively small and light,

it will be seen that by my inven-' For example lumber of so that if theboards are allowed to engage each other at their ends, while traveling downward on the runway, they might hold each other up and prevent some of the boards from falling through at the proper time. With the arrangement shown and described, however, the boards are caused to each other at one side, and thus maintains these flush edges of the boards in alinement with the lower side of the runway, so that the boards gradually feed downward in the hopper in alinement with the side of the runway against which the boards are maintained by any suitable provision, such as the tilting of the runway sidewise to cause the boards to travel with their lower edges against the lower side of the riniway.

It will be understood, however, that the sorting of lumber for boxes is only one eX- ample of the various uses for which my invention is applicable, or may hereafter be found to be applicable, and that for this reason I do not limit myself to the particular use shown and described. Also, inasmuch as the construction and mode of operation will be governed by the particular use or kind of work for which the apparatus is to be employed, I do not limit myself to the exact construction shown and described.

lVhile the apparatus is shown and described as being useful for sorting boards of different widths, or other flat articles, it will be understood that I do not limit myself to any particular use, and that the general combination of a runway and hopper, with the gage extending along one side of the runway, and the belt for. carrying the flat articles along the runway from the hopper, can be used for any suitable or desiredpurpose.

lVhat I claim as my invention is 1. In apparatus for sorting lumber, strips of material or other articlesac-cording to size, a runway for the articles having a plurality of openings of different widths arranged succcssively along said runway in the order of their size, so that the smallest opening is first and the largest last, thereby to form a series of outlets of differentsizes through which said articles may fall from said runway, said openings being rectangular in shape and arranged with their edges in alinementat one side of the runway and in stepped relation at the otherside, and said runway being tilted" laterally to cause said articles to slide against the side of the runway at which the edges of said openings are in alinement, a hopper also tilted laterally and disposed adjacent the smallest opening to hold a stack of said articles with one side of said hopper in alinement with the lower side of said runway, and means to feed the articles from the bottom of said hopper to the runway.

2. In apparatus for sorting lumber, strips of material or other articles according to size, a runway having devices to selectively discharge the articles, a hopper arranged to hold the different sized articles with their edges at one side in alinement, feed-mechanism to deliver the articles from said hopper to said runway, with said edges successively in contact with one side of the runway, and means for causing separation of the articles on the runway.

3. In apparatus for sorting lumber, strips of materialor other articles according to size, a runway having devices to selectively discharge the articles, a hopper arranged to hold thediiferent sized articles withtheir edges atone side in alinement, feed-mechanism to deliver the articles from said hopper to said runway, and means for causing sepa? ration of the articles on the runway, said mechanism having a feed-belt which is operated at one speed, andsaid means including a feed-belt which is operated at greater speed.

l. In apparatus for sorting lumber, strips of material or other articles according to size, a runway having devices to selectively discharge the articles, a hopper arranged to hold the different sized articles withtheir edges at one side in alinement, feedmechanism to deliver the articles from said hopper to said runway, with said edges successively in contact with one side of the runway, and means for causing separation of the articles on the runway, said mechanism and runway being inclined so that said articles travel downward thereon.

5. In apparatus for sorting lumber, strips of material orother articles according to size, a runway having devices to selectively discharge the articles, a hopper arranged to hold the different sized articles with their edges at one side in alinement, feed-mechanism to deliver the articles from said hopper to said runway, and means forcausing separation of the articles on the runway, said means including a feed-belt which operates faster than said mechanism.

6. In apparatus for sorting lumber, strips of material or other articles according to size, a runway fort-he articles, means to supportsaid runway in position so that said articles travel thereon with their edges. lower at one side than at the'other, thereby to insurealinement of the edges at the one side, said runway having devices for selectively discharging said articles at different points along the path of travel thereof, and means to hold the difi'erent sized articles with their edges in alinement at one side for feeding the articles to the receiving end of said runway.

7. In apparatus for sorting lumber, strips of material or other articles according to size, a runway tor the articles, means to support said runway in position so that said articles travel thereon with their ed 'es lower at one side than at the other, ther by to insure alinement of the edges at the one side, said runway having devices for selectively discharging said articles at different points along the path of travel thereof, and inclined mechanism to hold the articles in a stack with their edges even at the one side and to feed the articles to the upper end of said runway.

8. In apparatus for sorting lumber, strips of material or other articles according to size, comprising a runway having a series of openings of diiierent widths forming a single continuous slot which widens at one side only in the direction of travel of the articles thereon, and means for laterally adjusting the entire side of said runway at which the slot widens to vary the width thereof, the stationary side of said slot being lower than the movable side to insure alinement of the articles at one side.

9. In apparatus for sorting lumber, strips of material or other articles according to size, a runway for the articles having aplurality of openings of diilerent widths arranged successively along said runway in' the order of their size, so that the smallest opening is first and the largest last, thereby to form a series of outlets of difi erent sizes through which said articles may fall from said runway, said openings being rectangular in shape and arranged with their edges in alinement at one side of the runway and in stepped relation at the other side, and said runway being tilted laterally to cause said articles to slide against the side of the runway at which the edges of said openings are in alinement, a hopper also tilted laterally and disposed adjacent the smallest opening to hold a stack of said articles, with one side of said hopper in alinement with the lower side of said runway, and means to feed the articles, from the bottom of said hopper to the runway, aid runway having means to cause the separation of the articles thereon. V

10. In apparatus for sorting lumber, strips of material orother articles according to size, a runway for the articles having a plurality of openings of different widths arranged successively along said runway in the order of their size, so that the smallest opening is first and the largest last, thereby to form a series of outlets of different sizes through which said articles may fall from said runway, said openings being rectangular in shape and arranged with their edges in alinement at one side of the runway and in stepped relation at the other side, and said runway being tilted laterally to cause said articles to slide against the side of the runway at which the edges of said openings are in-alinement, a hopper also tilted laterally and disposed adjacent the smallest opening to hold a stack of said articles, with one side of said hopper in alinement with the lower side of said runway, and means to feed the articles from the bottom of said hopper to the runway, said runway having its lower longitudinal edge provided with a belt to cause the separation of the articles thereon.

11. In apparatus for sorting lumber, strips of material or other articles according to size, a runway tor the articles having a plurality of openings of different widths arranged successively along said runway in the order of their size, so that the smallest opening is first and the largest last, thereby to form a series of outlets of difierent sizes through which said articles may fall from said runway, said openings being rectangular in shape and arranged with their edges in alinement at one side of the runway and in stepped relation at the other side, and said runway being tilted laterally to cause said articles to slide against the side of the runway at which the edges of said openings are in alinement, a hopper also tilted laterally and disposed adjacent the smallest opening to hold a stack of said articles, with one side of said hopper in alinement with the lower side of said runway, so that the stack of articles is held with the edges even at one side thereof, means to feed the articles from the bottom of said hopper to the runway, and means whereby the upper side of said runway is adjustable, thereby to change the width of said openings, said hopper being supported on the stationary lower side of said runway.

12. In apparatus for sorting lumber, strips of material or other articles according to size, a runway for the articles having a plurality of openings of diflerent widths arranged successively along said runway in the order of their size, so that the smallest opening is first and the largest last, thereby to form a series of outlets of dilterent widths through which the articles of difi'erent widths may fall from said runway, and a hopper provided with means to hold a stack of articles with their edges even at one side and having means and arranged to automatically feed the articles of diiferent widths to the receiving end of said runway.

13. In apparatus for sorting lumber, strips of material or other articles according to size, a runway for the articles having a plurality of openings of difl'erent widths arranged successively along said runway in the order of their size, so that the smallest opening is first and the largest last, thereby to form a series of outlets of diflerentwidths through which the articles of different widths may fall from said runway, and a hopper provided with means to hold a stack of articles with their edges even at one side and having means and arranged to automatically feed the articles of different widths to the receiving end of said runway, and means whereby said runway is supported and held stationary during the operation off automatically feeding the articles thereto.

Ll. In apparatus for sorting lumber, strips of material or other articles according to size, a runway for the articles having a plurality of openings of different widths arranged successively along said runway in the order of their size, so that the smallest opening is first and the largest last, thereby to form a series of outlets of different widths through which the articles of different widths may fall from said runway, and a hopper provided with means to hold a stack of articles with their edges even at one side and having means and arranged to automatically feed the articles of different widths to the receiving end of said runway, the sides of said openings being in alinement at one side of said runway, and said apparatus having a provision for keep ing said articles against the side of the runway at which the sides of the openings are in alineinent with each other.

15. In apparatus for sorting lumber, strips of material or other articles according to size, a runway for the articles having a plurality of openings of difi'erent widths arranged successively along said runway in the order of their size, so that the smallest opening is first and the largest last, thereby to form a series of outlets of different widths through which the articles of different widths may fall from said runway, and a hopper provided with means to hold a stack of articles with their edges even at one side and having means and arranged to automatically feed the articles of different widths to the receiving end of said runway, said hopper having means whereby said articles of different widths are flush with each other at one side and thereby maintained in alinement with one side of the runway.

is. The combination of a runway for boards or fiat articles, a hopper having a means to hold a stack of articles even at one side thereof, a gage extending along the runway in line with said means, and a belt to carry the articles along the runway with their edges held in alinement at one side by said gage.

Signed by me at Chicago, Illinois, this 3rd day'of May 1916.

ARTHUR 'r. HALLOOK.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. c, 

